


better with you

by fraudulentzodiacs



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28915503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraudulentzodiacs/pseuds/fraudulentzodiacs
Summary: Their flight from Florida gets in late. Patrick briefly considers going to his own, rarely used, condo. He doesn’t want to disturb Jonny, and it’s nearly 1AM, but he also doesn’t want to sleep alone for another night – doesn’t want to know that Jonny’s within reach but he can’t see him.
Relationships: Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews
Comments: 20
Kudos: 172





	better with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kkane88](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kkane88/gifts).



> for @kkane88 on the occasion of her birthday!! basically just 2k 1988 being soft in bed.

Their flight from Florida gets in late. Patrick briefly considers going to his own, rarely used, condo. He doesn’t want to disturb Jonny, and it’s nearly 1AM, but he also doesn’t want to sleep alone for another night – doesn’t want to know that Jonny’s within reach but he can’t see him. So, he directs his car toward Jonny’s place instead of his own. He grips the steering wheel tightly as he navigates the mostly-empty streets of Chicago, of the place that’s become his home in more ways than one. It had been a frustrating trip, they lost more than they won, and he loves his guys – of course he does – but so many don’t seem like  _ his guys _ , there’s so many that are so  _ young _ , and most of all  _ Jonny _ wasn’t there.

All the lights are off when he shuts the front door quietly behind him. He drops his keys into Jonny’s key bowl and slips his shoes off, his spot next to Jonny’s shoes there waiting for him. He stashes his suitcase in the hall closet to deal with tomorrow; bed and Jonny and sleep his only goals at this point. He glances toward the dark kitchen, a pile of used water bottles piled haphazardly near the sink. It should annoy him, but at this point he hasn’t seen Jonny in almost a week so instead he just feels fond. There’s evidence of Jonny camping out in the living room, probably yelling at the screen throughout the last game against the Panthers as if they could hear him.

The bedroom is dark when Patrick pushes the door open, but he’s so familiar with the space that he can navigate it blindly, even anticipating the pile of Jonny’s clothes near the foot of the bed. Jonny doesn’t stir, and Patrick prays that he’s just that comfortable with Patrick that he can sleep through his arrival and not that Jonny’s had a bad day and is so exhausted that he’s sleeping like the dead.

Once he’s down to his boxers he throws back the blankets on his side of the bed and slides in. Jonny reacts instinctively, shuffling into Patrick’s space and throwing an arm over Patrick’s chest, shoving a thigh between Patrick’s legs.

“You’re home.” Jonny mumbles into Patrick’s chest where his head is pillowed. Patrick hums and reaches up to thread his fingers through Jonny’s hair, longer than he would normally keep it, something that Patrick secretly loves.

“Yeah.”

“That was a sick goal in the second.” Jonny still sounds half-asleep, but he  _ would _ have a comment on Patrick’s hockey ready anyway.

“Still wasn’t enough.” Jonny’s grip on Patrick’s waist tightens and Patrick nuzzles closer.

“It’s not all on you.” Jonny tells him, and Patrick can’t stop himself from laughing and leaning down to press a kiss to Jonny’s hair.

“And how many times have I told you that over the years?”

Jonny doesn’t answer with words, just grumbles and puts more of his weight on Patrick. Patrick wants to complain, push him back toward his side of the bed, but it’s been days of hotel rooms and sleeping alone, so he just relaxes into the bed and wraps his arms around Jonny’s shoulders. He wants to stay awake, wants to talk to Jonny after having nothing but Facetime and text messages, but he’s exhausted and he feels himself drifting despite his best efforts.

When he rouses, he can see the sunlight filtering into the room. He no longer has the weight of Jonny on his chest, but he looks over and finds him back on his own side of the bed, sprawled out on his stomach with one arm outstretched, pinky finger pressed to Patrick’s arm. Patrick watches him sleep, traces the angles of Jonny’s face with his eyes, all stress erased in sleep. He looks so much like he had when they had been rookies, when Patrick hadn’t known what Jonny would become to him but had known he would be  _ important _ . Now, he’s the most important thing in Patrick’s life, more than hockey, more than another Cup – Jonny is the love of his life, his family, his past and present and future.

It hadn’t been easy, the last few months, watching some mysterious ailment slowly drain Jonny of his energy, of his vitality. It was insidious, secretive, and they were both struggling with the fact that this wasn’t something Jonny could rehab. It wasn’t an injury, there wasn’t a timeline, all they could do was wait and hope that the doctors could figure out what was wrong,  _ do something _ about it. Patrick wanted Jonny back on the ice with him, where he belonged, but more than anything he just wanted Jonny to be okay, because anything else wasn’t an option.

Jonny is still snoring softly, so Patrick gives into the urge to press himself up against him, nuzzling his chin until Jonny gets the idea, moving instinctively even in his sleep to let Patrick press his face into his neck. Patrick can’t help but inhale the heady, familiar scent of Jonny, nosing along his skin, chuckling when Jonny squirms at the barest hint of Patrick’s tongue.

“’m still asleep, stop.” Jonny grumbles, and Patrick smiles.

“I’ve been gone for a week, give me some goddamn attention.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” Patrick kisses Jonny’s neck, and gets a soft groan in reward. “You love me.”

“I don’t know why.”

“You’re so grumpy.”

“Because you woke me up.”

“Okay, well, I can just go then-“ Patrick makes to pull away, and only just stifles a yelp when Jonny’s arm grabs him by the waist and keeps him in place. “Thought so.”

“Shut up.” Jonny tells him, sliding his hand up Patrick’s spine. “Missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Patrick confesses. “It’s not the same.”

“What?”

“The team, playing, hockey. It’s not the same without you.”

“I’m not that important, Patrick-“

“You  _ are _ .” Patrick insists. “You’re our captain, our leader. We need you, and I’m not trying to make you feel bad about not being out there, it’s not your fault, but you’re the most important piece. Especially to me.”

Jonny pulls away at that, and there’s something unreadable on his face, but he kisses Patrick before he can say anything. It’s soft, familiar, and it lights Patrick up like all of Jonny’s kisses have since they started this so many years ago. He thought, eventually, it might get old, like it had with everyone else, but instead he just melts like he always does. He opens up underneath Jonny, lets Jonny deepen the kiss. There’s no urgency, no sense of Jonny trying to escalate things, just kissing and kissing and kissing and it’s exactly what Patrick needs.

He lets Jonny kiss him until their lips are red and swollen, lets Jonny take the comfort he needs from this, because Patrick needs it too. There’s so much uncertainty in the world, in this season, but Patrick knows that  _ this _ – them – is solid. That, in the end they’ll be okay as long as they’re together. Even if Jonny never plays hockey again, if they’re never Tazer and Kaner again, they’ll still be Jonny and Patrick.

“Love you.” Jonny mumbles into Patrick’s jaw, where he’s moved to drop soft, biting kisses.

“Love you, too.” Patrick reciprocates, threads his fingers into Jonny’s too-long hair and tugs gently. Jonny groans and drops to suck a mark into Patrick’s neck. Patrick gasps, hips bucking involuntarily against Jonny. He’s starting to get hard, but it’s distant, arousal overridden by the need to just be close to Jonny. He can hear his breathing grow ragged as Jonny sucks and bites and licks at his skin. The mark’s going to be high on his neck, unmistakable, and he’s going to be chirped endlessly for it.

“You’re going to get me fined.” He manages to get out, and Jonny hums but keeps going.

Once Jonny’s satisfied, he pulls back enough to study his work, and Patrick’s entire body shudders as he feels Jonny run his finger over the raised skin.

“Hated watching you out there without me.” Jonny admits, letting his fingers drift from the hickey to drag along Patrick’s jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Patrick reaches out and rests his palm against Jonny’s cheek. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. Us losing is not on you, it’s on the team.”

“Yeah, but I could’ve-“

“You pushing yourself wouldn’t have made things any better.” His mind flashes to all those years ago, Jonny hiding his concussion, crashing his car. “They’ll figure out what’s wrong, and we’ll deal with that, and you’ll be back.”

“You can’t know that.” Jonny’s face turns to stone, frustration seeping through every pore.

“No, and I know that I don’t have faith in much, but I have faith in you.” Patrick leans up to kiss the space between Jonny’s eyebrows where it always wrinkles when Jonny’s angry. He lets his lips linger until he feels the fight drain out of Jonny. “There you go.”

“I just…I don’t want it to end like this.”

“Jon,” Patrick pushes until Jonny rolls over, and settles himself on top, straddling Jonny’s waist. He feels Jonny’s hands come up to rest on Patrick’s thighs, hot and heavy. “Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.”

“And if I never play again?” Jonny doesn’t look at him when he asks, and Patrick doesn’t immediately reply, runs his fingers through the hair on Jonny’s chest as he considers the idea that Jonny’s career could be done.

“Then we figure out the next step together. Whatever you want to do, Jonny, I’m here.” He leans over and presses a kiss over Jonny’s heart. “Even if you want to spend the rest of our lives holed up in a cabin in Winterpeg.”

“The rest of our lives, huh?” There’s a hint of a smile on Jonny’s face, and Patrick rolls his eyes and swats Jonny’s side.

“As if you’re getting rid of me. You’re stuck now.”

“Guess I should put a ring on it.” Patrick manages to contain the way his heart hammers in his chest at the thought, rolling his eyes in what he hopes is a good cover. Judging by the way Jonny smiles at him, he thinks that he failed.

“Better be a fancy one.”

“The fanciest.”

“Good.” Patrick leans down and Jonny meets him halfway for a kiss.

“I do want that, you know.” Jonny tells him once they break apart, and he reaches up to tug on a stray curl hanging over Patrick’s forehead. “With you.”

“I know.” Patrick tells him, because he does, knows that’s where they’re headed one day.

“Thank you.” Jonny’s voice turns rough. “I don’t think I could handle this if you weren’t here.”

“You could.” Patrick assures him, laying himself out fully over Jonny’s body. “But I’m glad I’m here.”

“What are we going to do, at our cabin in Winnipeg?”

“Fuck on every surface?” Patrick offers, and laughs when Jonny’s hand smacks the back of his head. “Whatever you want, babe.”

“And if I wanted….”

Patrick lifts his head up, resting his chin on Jonny’s chest so he can stare up at him. “What do you want?”

“A family.” Jonny finally finishes, looking away. Patrick feels tears burn in his eyes and he wills them down.

“You want that? With me?”

“I want everything with you.” Jonny looks back at him, and he thinks it might be the most raw and honest he’s ever seen Jonny.

“Then we’ll have a whole hockey team.” Patrick replies, and watches as Jonny’s face breaks out in a huge, blinding smile. “Oh, my god, you’re going to be the  _ worst _ hockey dad.”

“Shut up, I will not.” Jonny argues half-heartedly, and Patrick’s suddenly irrationally longing for an impossible child with his curls and Jonny’s eyes.

“You will.” He climbs up Jonny’s body the few inches necessary to reach his mouth, kissing him deeply. “I can’t wait.”

“Me either.”

“We’re going to be okay.” Patrick promises him. “No matter what happens this season, or next year, of ten years from now. We’re going to be okay.”

Jonny studies him for a long time before nodding.

“I believe you.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumbler @[bennsseguin](https://bennsseguin.tumblr.com/)!


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